Draco Malfoy and the Volunteer Job
by breannatala
Summary: For a contest on Third Floor Corridor. It is after the war, and Draco, being a pureblood, is assigned a job to do without magic. It seems Draco and rodents don't work out to well together . . .


**A/N: This was written for a contest on Third Floor Corridor (link in my profile). Basically, it's after the war and purebloods are being forced to do a job thing without magic.**

"Who's the volunteer?" the keeper asked.

"Draco Malfoy's his name. Pureblood wizard," the squib answered with slight disgust.

"Wizard, eh? Any relation to you?"

"No. He's being sent here by the Ministry to do muggle work without magic. _That_ should be interesting," John said with a smirk. "He's here all day. I suggest cleaning jobs . . . the rodent cages need to be cleaned . . ."

"Sounds good," Mark said with a shrug. "I'll leave you to it, then."

- - - - - - - - - -

Fifteen minutes later, a 19 year old man dressed in black pants and a white button up shirt strutted into the pet shop. His shoulder length blonde hair was slicked back and only his cool blue eyes slightly betrayed his true emotions. Nearly hidden behind a relaxed facade, they showed disgust, curiosity, and a bit of fear.

"Draco Malfoy, I presume?" John asked, not bothering to use a polite tone.

"Yes," Draco drawled.

"Good," John said with a smirk. "Well, then, you'll be starting with the rodent cages today." He started toward the middle of the shop, where several tanks were holding the rodents.

"Rodents?" Draco asked, unable to hide his disgust at all.

"Yes. Hamsters, mice, rats . . . I'm sure you'll have time for the rabbits later, maybe the birds. The cat cages and dog kennels need to be cleaned, also. Without magic," John sneered. "Wand?" he asked, holding out his hand.

"I think I'll keep my wand, thank you very much," Draco answered and turned to face the tanks.

"I don't think so. I have to report back to the Ministry, remember. Don't want them to hear you refused to give up your wand, do you? Might have to do this all over again," he said cheerfully. "Wouldn't that be fun?"

"Oh, fine," Malfoy spat, taking his wand from his sleeve and handing it to the squib. "What do I do?"

"You'll have to do each tank individually. Put all of the animals from one into the extra tank," he said, pointing to an empty one, "giving all the dead ones to Chessa and Don," he continued, pointing to the snake cages. "They like the dead ones, for some reason. Very lazy, those two snakes; won't eat the live ones. Anyway, then you clean out the cage with water – no soap! – and add litter, clean water and food . . . and do that with all of them. Don't get rid of any of the chew sticks or toys. When you are done with that, come and find me and I'll check it over before telling you want to do next. It shouldn't take any more than three hours . . ."

Without another word, John left and Draco spent the next few minutes staring disdainfully at all the rodents. Deciding it was best to get it done soon, he took down the uppermost tank, which was at eye level, and put int on the ground. Next, he took the empty tank and set it next to it before taking the lid off the hamster cage.

Draco looked down into the tank, wondering how he was going to get the . . . eight hamsters that were in there _out_. He wasn't willing to touch one for the chance that it had a disease, but after looking around the box he was given of materials to use and not finding anything, he sighed and continued to look disdainfully at the rodents in the tank.

"Arrgg," he said, and reached his hand toward one of the hamsters. It jumped when he touched it, turning on its back and baring its sharp teeth, managing to nip Draco's finger. "Ah! Err," he growled, pulling his hand back fast. A little slower this time, he reached in his hand, and managed to touch a different hamster. It moved to look at what touched it, but it didn't attempt to do anything other than smell his fingers. Gathering up his courage, Draco grabbed it and nearly threw it into the uninhabited tank. Pleased that he did not get bitten, he did the same with the next hamster.

Finally, all the hamsters were out of the cage and Draco grabbed the toy house, jumping when a hamster popped out of the bedding, it's eyes half closed.

"Stupid thing," he grumbled, grabbed it, and put it in with the other hamsters and _carefully_ took out the rest of the plastic objects, not wanting to startle again. Satisfied there were no more of the little creatures in the tank – or anything other than the bedding – he dumped the contents into the bag he was given and got irritated when clumps of it refused to come out. Not wanting to waste any more time on it, he poked at them with one of the chewing sticks until they fell, grimacing at the smell of what he was assuming was old urine.

When all of the bedding was out, he put the tank down roughly and stood, wondering where he was going to get water to rinse out the cage. Spotting an odd looking sink across the large room after a minute of standing and calmly looking around, he walked toward it, and rag full of holes in his hand. He wet it and went back to the tank, intent on getting it done as soon as possible.

Kneeling down, he quickly washed the tank, then dried it. Becoming bored, he threw in some bedding, food and the plastic things before turning to the rodents in the cage he put them in half an hour earlier, wondering if he could get them all back in without having to touch them again.

Smirking, he picked up the tank that contained only the hamsters – no bedding or anything – and he brought it to the edge of the now-clean tank and . . . he simply poured the hamsters into their cage. One of them missed the tank and fell to the ground. Draco stared at it for a moment, as stunned as it was, before the hamster crouched low to the ground and started moving away from him, excited at the prospect of not being caged.

"What did you just do?" John hissed, reaching for the freed hamster and putting it back into the tank with the others. "You can't just _dump _them back into the tank! Are you that simple?"

"Why not? They're just rodents. Look," Draco answered calmly, pointing to the finished cage. "They're fine. Not harmed at all."

"You – just _can't_. Get out. If you can't do the job properly, you might as well be assigned something that doesn't involve living creatures! Wizards! No care for anything but themselves!"

Draco, slightly confused, just stood there for a moment before shrugging and holding his hand out for his wand.

"Well, that will suit me perfectly to be assigned to a new project. This one _stinks_ rather badly, if you know what I mean," Draco answered smoothly. "To care for something as low as a rodent is pathetic. I'm sure anything will be better than this."

Roughly, John slapped the wand into Draco's hand and the wizard pocketed it automatically before turning around and leaving the small pet store.

"_Muggles_," Draco mumbled to himself once he was far enough away not to cause a commotion. "Like _cleaning_ for them would ever cause a true wizard to sympathize with them. If anything, they'd be better off as _our_ servants. _Filthy_."

Not bothering to take time to explore the muggle world around him, Draco disapparated, hoping that whatever the Ministry assigns to him next wouldn't be so revolting.

**A/N: It is currently a oneshot because I can't think of anything decent for a next muggle job. Any suggestions would be nice, if you wish to see this continued. Otherwise, it's been left as-is unless inspiration overcomes me. You'd be noted . . .**


End file.
